Complementary Alternative Cardiovascular Medicine

230 Alternative Cardiovascular Medicine
It is based on these types of individualizing symptoms that differentiate
among the homeopathic medicines considered. Often these differences
seem subtle—and indeed would be largely irrelevant to the
allopathic doctor—but to a homeopath, that which is individually characteristic
of the patient’s complaint is paramount.
Patients who need the remedy Glonoine often suffer from fainting
episodes. We can also think of this remedy for those patients with more
advanced cardiomyopathy and for those whose cardiac symptoms alternate
with headache symptoms. These people present with the tendency
toward confusion that may worsen at night. They are better outside or in
cool air. When the heart symptoms are aggravated, it may cause a hand
tremor, making use of the hands difficult. This remedy is one of the ones
considered when any symptom in the body is accompanied by throbbing
and pulsation along with congestive headaches. Glonoine helps those
patients in the acute phase of sunstroke, when the head is throbbing and
bright red and they are worse from leaning forward and better with
applying cold water to the face.
Those working with cardiac patients would not want to be without the
remedy Lachesis mutans. There is a strong feeling of fullness in the chest
in patients with heart arrhythmias. The feeling of fullness is so severe
that the patient will describe it as a bursting sensation. They often are
worse as they fall asleep and cannot tolerate sleeping on the left side.
They prefer to sleep on the right side or in a sitting position. They are
much worse in the heat and when they become overheated.
If the problem were angina, the Lachesis patient would describe a
cramping pain in the chest, along with the sensation of fullness. It is not
uncommon for those patients needing Lachesis to also have a concomitant
cough during episodes of cardiac symptoms. Because the sense of
fullness in the chest and the neck, these patients are unable to wear any
clothing or jewelry that constricts those areas; in fact, they dislike any
tight clothing, so they present with loose-fitting, collarless clothing.
Because of their extreme warmth, the Lachesis patient commonly wears
sandals year-round.
Patients with congestive heart failure (CHF) who require this remedy
will have a tremendous feeling of suffocation. There will be a feeling of
pressure on the chest that is difficult to escape; the patient is awakened
by a feeling of choking and must sit up in bed to regain comfort. Lachesis
can treat sleep apnea in patients with those general symptoms.
Many women will develop cardiac symptoms first during the
perimenopausal years when they are markedly worse, physically and
emotionally. It’s as if without the monthly menstrual discharge, they
suffer. Palpitations or angina may commence during these years. Men-